Silverdrift Lair is an ancient Nordic tomb southeast of Dawnstar, sitting north and slightly west of Fellglow Keep, directly north of Shrouded Grove and east of the Tower of Mzark. Bandits loiter outside, draugr fill the halls, and the place is famous for its sneaky little door handles. Bring patience, a light source and a healthy fear of swinging blades.
What you’ll find
- Leveled bandits outside and leveled draugr inside, possibly including overlords and death overlords.
- A big central chamber with bridges, wooden ramps and spiral stairs, plus a throne and a fire pit hung with game.
- Hidden handles on stone posts that open spike gates and doors – tiny and very easy to miss.
- Plenty of traps: swinging gates, a swinging log, a battering ram, spear and spike plates, oil lamps over oil pools, and fire traps by the Word Wall.
- A helmet on a platform that triggers a spike trap when you take it.
- The Word Wall for Disarm, guarded by draugr and, at high levels, a death overlord and/or a dragon priest.
- A secret puzzle room at the very bottom of the main chamber, along the west wall, leading to crypts with extra draugr and loot.
Quests
The tomb can be the target of radiant book hunts such as Fetch Me That Book! and Hitting the Books, as well as Find the Source of Power / Find the Word of Power. It is also a possible location for Wind and Sand (Dragonborn).
Notable items
- Two-Handed skill book Words and Philosophy, on a table with potions early on.
- Pickpocket skill book Thief, between skeletal hands in a later room.
- Word Wall: Disarm.
- Several leveled chests, including an expert-locked one in the secret crypts and a well-stocked chest beside the Word Wall.
Tips
When a door refuses to budge, check every nearby post for a handle – especially at the junction with two swinging traps and two draugr. In the secret puzzle room you get a snake pillar and a whale pillar: one opens the door, the other sets you on fire. The answer is a whale symbol half hidden behind a hanging lantern. Step around the pressure plates and watch the floor near the Word Wall, where fire traps cover the approach. The lair has a handy loop, too: a barred door near the end leads straight back to the first junction, so you won’t have to backtrack the whole dungeon.
Good to know
If you’re doing Discerning the Transmundane, the corpses here cover every blood type you need except Altmer and Falmer.
Nearby
Closest places covered on TamrielSaga: Shrouded Grove, Ironbind Barrow, Duskglow Crevice, Weynon Stones, Nightgate Inn.
Location data (hold, map position, editor ID) read from the Skyrim game files; details checked against community wiki articles and summarised in our own words.